Repairs ordered for flood-prone South Westland district

A view upriver towards the State Highway 6 bridge following the August storm which took out chunks of the northern stopbank. Photo: Supplied / West Coast Regional Council

Repairs have been ordered for washouts in the Wanganui River protection scheme as a result of the Waitangi weekend storm in South Westland.

The West Coast Regional Council ordered the fix last week, following a plea from councillor Andy Campbell, a farmer on the Wanganui River at Hari Hari and chairman of the local rating district.

Declaring his personal interest, Campbell said he would pay for a temporary repair himself due to the river sweeping away about 80 metres of stopbank over the long weekend.

The latest incursion had badly affected his neighbours and had sent the river straight towards his cowshed.

Councillor Andy Campbell. Photo: Greymouth Star / Brendon McMahon

The council took the matter in hand at the Infrastructure Governance Committee meeting last week.

Councillor Peter Haddock said the continuing erosion could no longer just be left.

"This has come up now in our previous two meetings, that we have signalled there are problems there, and we haven't done anything about it."

Since February 2022, the council has been hearing of large chunks being washed out of what is the largest flood protection scheme on the West Coast.

The Wanganui State Highway 6 bridge which has previously been washed out - the highway being the lifeline for the Glaciers tourist hotspot. Photo: Greymouth Star / Brendon McMahon

The vulnerability of the State Highway 6 bridge across the Wanganui River is another worry given previous storms which had closed the highway for weeks.

The regional council has undertaken some work on the riverbank following the February and August storms but it is still awaiting news of a claim to the National Emergency Management Agency.

Chairman Frank Dooley said a recent briefing with consultants about the Wanganui River scheme had been "very constructive".

Management had been asked for a proposal by Tuesday so the emergency work could be addressed, but it had not arrived and Dooley said the situation could not continue to be left.

A view down the Wanganui River from the state highway bridge in a moderate flood, late last year. Photo: Greymouth Star / Brendon McMahon

"I don't want to leave this council office today without actually understanding what we are going to do about the immediate issues on the Wanganui River."

He reiterated there had been "very clear" advice.

"I think we just need to follow through and do the job."

Haddock said the past approach of constant maintenance of river protection in the region was for a practical reason given the propensity of rivers to change course.

"I know there is a trend today to say it is climate change," Haddock said.

But the amount of maintenance work required on the rockwall - built decades ago by the old Westland Catchment Board - "was significant", he said.

Haddock said: "We have a commitment to do that work - that is the function of the regional council. We've got to address this, when we've got a hole there that needs addressing, we've got to find a solution."

Dooley said the engineering advice had been that doing immediate repairs would not affect the longer term improvement plan the council was considering for the scheme.

Councillors then moved into public excluded, and Haddock confirmed afterwards that they had subsequently agreed to a "stitch in time" approach immediately.

"It was agreed it needed an urgent repair ... you can't just leave it - it's too dangerous."

Payment would be worked out later as the district rating scheme did not have the funds on its own.

"We've got to put a stitch in, otherwise we could lose the whole thing next week."

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